Download Sarah Wen - Matthew Lombard

Sarah Wen – BTMM 4446 - 4/18/10
READING SUMMARY: Telepresence and... art;
comics, graphic novels and adaptations to film
Saltz, D. Z. (2001). The Collaborative Subject: Telerobotic Performance and Identity.
Performance Research, 6(3), 70-83.
Jones, M. T. (2009). Found in Translation: Structural and Cognitive Aspects of the Adaptation of
Comic Art to Film. VDM Publishing.
There are two articles to this summary. The first is “Collaborative Subject” by David
Saltz. In his article, Saltz mentions how technology can let us experience virtual reality while
helping others function normally as part of their body, such as with a cyborg. Virtual reality
systems like video games let users experience virtual worlds and environments with no physical
connections. Then, he brings up philosopher Daniel Dennett’s Cartesian theater model of
consciousness. Dennett believed the model of consciousness is “the notion that the subject exists
as a point of consciousness in the brain gazing through the eyes out into the world” (Saltz, p. 71).
Based on this, Saltz hoped that a person could use his brain to control a robotic body out in a
mission while his physical body is centered somewhere else. Then the robotic body could send
any sensory data back to his brain during the mission. However, there are similar robots, like the
telerobot, that help us complete missions though they don’t provide as rich of sensory feedback
experiences to operators as mentioned in Dennett's model of consciousness. Telerobots are
robots controlled by operators in a control room to help them complete a mission. Through
telerobots' cameras and microphones, operators can move the robot, hear sounds, talk to people,
and see the environment.
Telerobots have helped complete many dangerous tasks such as handling radioactive
material, exploring outer space, and even exploring the “Titanic” from a ship above the ocean
floor. Not only that, but there were also other telerobotic experiences like Norman White and
Doug Back’s “Telephonic Arm Wrestling” in 1986 which allowed users to wrestle with one
another from two different cities connected through a telephone data link. After that, many
robots started appearing in different events to answer questions and interact with the audiences.
There were different artists who went through many experiments of telepresence to make
people feel the sense of “being there.” For example, in 1977, Kit Galloway and Sherrie
Rabinowitz’s “Satellite Arts Project” used satellite television to link two different musical
performances together from different locations and audiences were able to see both. After this,
many other music players used the Internet to perform together from different locations and this
way was more affordable than using satellite television. In other instances, they even have two
big monitors linked together from different locations and allow people to interact with one
another on the screen. In 1998, there was the performance of Cyborg Adam and Cyborg Eve who
are played by live actors who interact with the audiences through a video camera. Through a
phone booth, the participants can control Adam or Eve from a first person’s perspective as if
they are Adam or Eve themselves.
The second reading, “Structural and Cognitive aspects of the adaptation of Comic Art to
Film,” contains the abstract (summary) and one chapter from a dissertation by Matthew Jones.
He wanted to know whether reading a comic book before or after watching the film version of it
would cause any difference in telepresence. He conducted two studies, the first to find out the
different types of adaptation from comic to film. In this study, he found two types: Structural
adaptation is when the film version of the comic book is based on narrative events and thematic
adaptation is when it's based on “key conflicts and characters” (Jones, abstract p. 5). The second
study was to see whether structural and thematic adaptation would have different effects on
telepresence. The results showed that readers of a comic book experience a higher level of
telepresence before watching the film version of it. Evidence shows that structural adaptations
produce a higher level of telepresence than thematic adaptations while preexisting interest in the
comic book will also produce higher telepresence compared to the film version of it. Surprisingly,
comic readers overall reported higher telepresence than viewers of the film version.
Then, in the chapter, Jones further discusses how comics work and how comics can have
any effect on telepresence. What’s important that makes comics so 'real' is that the words and
images become unified as one rather than separated. Also, some images or situations evoke the
readers’ emotions and empathy when they read the comics. Another thing that makes comics real
is the time readers spend reading word balloons, which brings the readers to the present. Not
only are the panels designed to catch readers' attention but also the freedom of which page to
read gives readers the chance to make their own choices as in real life experience. Comparing
comics to films, films achieve telepresence by invisible editing, three dimensional appearance,
soundtracks, and lip movements of actors. To make the viewing experience more real, framing
techniques are used to focus viewers' attention and one of them is indexing, which is “when our
perspective moves forward through space, either as a result of the camera physically 'trucking'
forward or a zoom lens” (Jones, p. 90). After all, both comic readers and film viewers can
achieve telepresence by taking part in any characters’ perspective in the story.
Both readings are quite interesting. The first reading of telerobots, telepresence, and
cyborgs really grabbed my attention, especially “Project Paradise” back in 1998. The question
that strikes me when I read about Cyborg Adam and Cyborg Eve is what it feels like to ‘control’
a real person through the touch of buttons in the first person perspective? Through the monitor,
does it really feel like we are actually interacting with Adam or Eve? Also, how do the actors
feel in their naked bodies? Surprisingly, the results of the studies from the comic to film
adaptations were even more interesting. Who would have thought that images and words in a
book produce higher telepresence than a film version of sounds and images? What's important is
these are just some of the ways we experience telepresence.